Digital Infrastructure for Life on Earth - Documenting, organizing, and protecting our planet's incredible biological diversity through comprehensive digital systems
Explore the World of BiodiversityBiodiversity catalogues represent critical infrastructure for documenting, organizing, and accessing information about life on Earth. These comprehensive systems encompass digital libraries, species checklists, taxonomic databases, and geospatial resources that collectively support scientific research, conservation efforts, and policy-making worldwide.
Comprehensive digital repositories containing millions of pages of biodiversity literature, historical documents, and scientific publications accessible to researchers worldwide.
Authoritative lists of known species with validated scientific names, taxonomic classifications, and comprehensive metadata supporting global biodiversity monitoring.
Location-based data systems mapping species occurrences, habitat distributions, and ecosystem boundaries to support conservation planning and research.
The most comprehensive initiative to compile a single, integrated list of all known species worldwide. Currently includes species drawn from global data sources with ChecklistBank hosting extensive taxonomic and nomenclatural data.
The world's largest open access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives, operating as a global consortium of natural history museums, botanical gardens, and research institutions.
International network and data infrastructure providing open access to species occurrence data. GBIF mediates access to billions of species records from institutions worldwide, enabling cross-disciplinary research.
Comprehensive efforts to document all biological species within defined areas. The Great Smoky Mountains example has documented over 22,000 species with more than 1,000 new to science.
Network of conservation experts tracking species and ecosystems, with emphasis on imperiled species. Maintains over one million mapped locations documenting conservation priorities.
UN Development Programme initiative addressing biodiversity financing challenges across 130+ countries. Catalyzed over $1.6 billion in biodiversity finance since 2018.
EEA Spatial Data Infrastructure providing access to geospatial datasets for habitats, species distributions, and protected sites across Europe since 2012.
Provides free, open, multilingual digital access to information on nearly 2 million known species. Led by the Smithsonian Institution with advanced trait terms management and phylogenetic capabilities.
Authoritative and comprehensive catalogue of marine organisms hosted by the Flanders Marine Institute. Provides validated names for all known marine species worldwide.
Species distribution modeling, climate change impacts, evolutionary studies
Protected area planning, endangered species monitoring, habitat assessment
Environmental regulations, international agreements, biodiversity reporting
Invasive species tracking, pathogen distribution, health monitoring
GBIF-mediated data supports research across all 13 major disciplinary categories, with 79% focusing on biology-related subdisciplines.
Stable framework underpinning biodiversity data sharing, providing standardized terminology for compiling data from varied sources worldwide.
DwC FormatBiodiversity Information Standards organization developing protocols for exchanging biological data and promoting best practices globally.
Global StandardsRecommended exchange format for COL ChecklistBank, providing tabular text format with semantic versioning for taxonomic data.
Version 1.1Spatial and temporal gaps in monitoring data affect representativeness and can lead to misplaced conservation action.
Only 10% of biological collections worldwide are available in digital form, with complete digitization requiring decades at current rates.
Mismatch between data availability and research use across different taxonomic groups and geographic regions.
Knowledge gaps may increase if species discovery outpaces ecological understanding and habitat documentation.
AI applications for automated species identification, pattern recognition, and improved cataloguing efficiency.
COL expansion from 168 to 17,500 data sources enables monthly updates and community contributions.
BIOFIN scaling to 130+ countries with GEF funding, helping integrate biodiversity into national financial systems.
Alliance partnerships building shared services and regional funding mechanisms for enhanced global coverage.
Biodiversity catalogues continue evolving toward comprehensive, integrated, and accessible systems supporting global research, policy, and conservation efforts.
Built by Tyler Norton